NICE: Police were hunting three arson suspects on Thursday after an apartment building fire killed seven people in the southern French city of Nice, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said. The dead include three children — 5, 7 and 10 years old — and a 17-year-old who tried to escape by jumping from a window, they added. The apartment is located in the low-income neighbourhood of Les Moulins, known for being a drug-dealing hub, in the west of the city. “What happened here, this fire, is absolutely awful and revolting,” Attal told reporters at the scene, adding that “the investigation is…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
NEW DELHI: On the occasion of Ashura, Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq paid glorious tributes to Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) — the grandson of the Prophet (PBUH), the beloved son of Fatimah Al Zahra (RA) — and to his devoted companions in the battle at Karbala. According to a Hurriyat Conference statement, Mirwaiz called for the ummah to uphold Imam Hussain’s mission of defending truth and standing with the oppressed. After 13 long years, Mirwaiz was allowed by the authorities to address the large religious gathering of men, women and youth from far and wide, on the occasion of Ashura…
NEW YORK: A grand jury has indicted a former US Central Intelligence Agency analyst on charges of acting as a spy for the South Korean government in exchange for luxury goods, bags and fancy meals, the BBC reported on Thursday. Sue Mi Terry, who previously worked as a senior official for the White House National Security Council, faces two counts of failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Federal officials say Ms Terry — a prominent US expert on North Korea — acted as an agent for the South Korean government for over…
ROME: Italy’s competition watchdog launched an investigation on Wednesday into luxury fashion groups Armani and Dior for unfair commercial practices over allegations they used suppliers that underpaid and overworked their staff. As part of the probe, the AGCM watchdog and the Guardia di Finanza financial police on Tuesday carried out inspections at the headquarters of Giorgio Armani SpA and G.A. Operations SpA as well as Christian Dior Italia Srl. The investigation comes after units of Armani and Dior were separately placed under judicial administration earlier this year following concerns over labour law violations by subcontractors. Both groups said they would…
PHNOM PENH: A group of 60 rare Siamese crocodiles have hatched in Cambodia, boosting hopes for one of the world’s most endangered reptiles, conservationists said on Thursday. Five Siamese crocodile nests were discovered in Cambodia’s Cardamom National Park in mid-May, the country’s environment and agriculture ministry said in a joint statement with conservation group Fauna and Flora. The nests contained 106 eggs, of which 66 were fertilised, and a total of 60 Siamese crocodile eggs successfully hatched between June 27 and 30, the ministry said. “This discovery indicates that the area is a key habitat for natural crocodiles, providing hope…
DHAKA: Bangladeshi students set fire to the country’s state broadcaster on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm escalating clashes that have killed at least 32 people. Nearly 1,000 others had been treated at the hospital for injuries sustained during clashes with police, the official said, adding many had rubber bullet wounds. The country was experiencing a “near-total” internet shutdown on Thursday night, outage monitor Netblocks said. “Live network data show #Bangladesh is now in the midst of a near-total internet shutdown,” the group said in a post on X. Hundreds of…
KARACHI: A restriction on access to social media platform Facebook was reported to be in effect across multiple service providers in the country, Dawn.com reported on Wednesday, which saw Pakistan observe Youm-i-Ashura to pay homage to Imam Husain and other martyrs of Karbala. NetBlocks said authorities “typically restrict mobile internet services” on the occasion. Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including users, also showed that user reports indicated problems in accessing Facebook. Instagram and Facebook are both owned by Meta. The Balochistan government had already previously decided to suspend mobile phone and internet services in Quetta and…
ISLAMABAD: Apparently unaware about the exercise already being underway, Federal Interior Minister and Narcotics Control Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday accorded in principle approval to conduct of the National Drug Survey. “In line with the mission to save the future generations from the menace of drugs, the survey will be conducted after a gap of 11 years,” said an official press release issued after a meeting of the committee on National Drug Survey held at the Interior Ministry with Mr Naqvi in the chair. Sources told Dawn that Ministry of Narcotics Control, US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs…
RAWALPINDI: The Transport Canada Aviation Security inspectors on Thursday completed security assessment of the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, and commended Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s (PCAA) airport security protocols, terming them in line with international standards and best practices. A PCAA spokesman said that the Transport Canada Aviation Inspectors, Barbara Durette and Abdel Tahir, led the assessment, hosted by PCAA and overseen by Avsec Director retired Air Commodore Shahid Qadir. During the assessment of the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, various security measures were evaluated, including passenger and baggage screening, perimeter protection, cargo, and catering security, as well as security protocols for direct…
KARACHI: Almost a year after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) “unanimously” approved the results of the 2023 digital census, the country’s top data body has released detailed results of the enumeration exercise. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released data for the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 at an event in Islamabad on Thursday. The district-level data included information on various demographics and metrics, including population, gender, age, religion, language, urbanisation, access to electricity and water, etc. However, detailed data on some important indicators like employment, literacy, migration, access to toilets, etc., was not published on the website. Population growing…
